Notables

The North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach recently opened a Special Care Unit for delicate patients with complex needs.

Special Care Providers Inc. manages the only hospital-based, 10-bed special care unit in Broward County catering to patients that are bound to ventilators, terminally or critically ill, and complex medical conditions.

"Research indicates that optimal outcomes are achieved when the rehabilitation process is started immediately," said Donna Small, chief nursing officer. "Special care providers are able to wean their patients off ventilators 87 percent of the time and 48 percent of their patients go directly home. We were very impressed by their outcomes and the services that they provide, so we felt it was a very good fit for our patients."

The unit also teaches families how to care for patients once they have been discharged.

"North Broward Medical Center provides a lot of specialized services as it relates to the continuum of care for our patients," Small said.

"For patients on ventilators or with catastrophic injuries who we may have had to transfer to another facility, we are now able to keep those patients in our medical center where we can rehabilitate them faster and get them to their optimal level."

Divisions honored for master plan

The Broward County Commission's Cultural and Parks and Recreation divisions were recently honored for artistic vision and environmental design.

The county's Theater of Regeneration Park Bond Master Plan program received the Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties.

This award recognizes county governments for the improvement of management and services.

"I remember this program particularly as an example of outstanding leadership in an arts environment," said Jacqueline Byers, director of research. "With a three-pronged approach -- a strong commitment by county commissioners through referendum for funding; [an] all-inclusive team to develop the program -- artists, city officials, environmental experts, cultural area leaders; and momentum -- the project is actually moving along."

The master plan is a 30-year plan to build 16 parks throughout Broward. Each park will have its own artistic theme and ecological design.

In addition, eight overall themes will connect the individual parks and tell the story of Broward's ecological and social evolution.